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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BLACKDIRGE" data-source="post: 556635" data-attributes="member: 1953">The description of the assault on Sheveker's fortress has gotten rather long so I have broken it up into two pieces for ease of reading. Here is the first part to be followed by part two as soon as I have finished it. I will also post the stats for Ubok Prog the Half-Dragon Blackguard who gives Nithrekel a boat load of trouble. Hope you like it.<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> Dirge***************************************************Nithrekel, Earth Mephit Small Outsider; Fighter 12/War Master1, AL N; CR 16; Year 43HD 3d8+13d10+48; hp 150; Init +2; Spd 30 ft, Fly 40 ft; AC 27 (+2 Dex, +1 size, +6 natural, +6 chain shirt, ring +2)BAB +16/+11/+6/+1; Atk +24/+19/+14/+9 melee or +19/+14/+9/+4 ranged;SV Fort +16, Ref +11, Will +10;Str 24, Dex 12 (14), Con 16, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 14(16th level stat bump, +1 to STR)Skills (82 points): Bluff +6 (7), Craft (weapon smith) +11 (13), Craft (armorer) +11 (13), Diplomacy +7 (9), Hide +6 (12), Knowledge (military tactics) +10 (12), Intimidate +4 (6), Listen +6 (7), Move Silently +6 (8), Spot +6 (7) Feats: Power Attack, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword), Weapon Focus (bastard sword), Cleave, Weapon Specialization (bastard sword), Flyby Attack, Improved Critical (bastard sword), Great Cleave, Power Critical, Sunder, Improved Initiative, Expertise, LeadershipLanguages: terran, common, dwarven, ignan, gnollArmor: +2 Minor Fortification Mithral Chain Shirt, +6 AC, 10 lbsWeapons: +3 Keen Screaming Bastard Sword: Atk +28/+23/+18/+13 melee, Dmg 1d10+1d6+15, crit 15-20/x2Javelin: Atk +19/+14/+9/+4 ranged, Dmg 1d6+7, crit x2, range 30ftClaws (2): Atk +24 melee, Dmg 1d3+7, crit x2Other Gear: potion of cure moderate wounds (2), 2 javelins of lightning, gloves of dexterity +2, ring of protection +2, ring of resistance +2Breath Weapon: 15 ft. cone of rock shards and pebbles, Dmg 1d8, reflex save for half DC 21Spell-like abilities: 1/hour – enlarge, 1/day – soften earth and stone, cast as 6th level sorcererFast Healing: Nithrekel heals 2 points of damage per round when underground or buried up to his waist in earth Summon Mephit: Once per day Nithrekel can summon another earth mephit with a 25% chance of success.The siege of Sheveker’s fortress lasted for two weeks, with Nithrekel forces hammering at the walls of the tower day and night. The catapults and trebuchets operated non-stop and eventually the powerfully enchanted siege engines created a breach in the adamantine walls and allowed Nithrekel’s troops to gain access to the tower. As Sheveker’s troops rained arrows down upon Nithrekel’s men streaming through the breach, Nithrekel had the battle towers and scaling ladders put to use. As Sheveker’s men focused their attentions on the breach more of Nithrekel’s troops came over the walls and suddenly Sheveker’s men were in full retreat fighting for their lives. The fighting inside the tower was fierce as Nithrekel led his men into the upper reaches of the tower and finally to the huge iron double doors that led to Sheveker’s inner sanctum. One hundred men led by the fearsome half-dragon blackguard Ubok Prog held the doors to Sheveker’s final bastion and they would not give up their master easily. Nithrekel’s men fell back in fear as Ubok Prog stepped to the front of his men and a palpable aura of despair crashed down upon Nithrekel and his troops. Here was evil in its truest form, Ubok Prog towered almost eight feet tall and was armored in full plate so black it appeared to have been made of the very essence of darkness itself. The blackguard wore no helm so that all could gaze upon his fiendish visage and despair, born of a human sorcerer and a black dragon Ubok Prog’s face was more draconic than human covered with iron hard black scales and featuring a wide slash of a mouth filled with needle sharp teeth. His eyes burned with a hellish green luminescence and his brow was crowned with a pair of wicked curving horns. Ubok Prog gripped a large shield bearing the symbol if his patron deity, the vile demon lord Orcus, and in his right hand he held “Heart Skewer” his feared weapon, a black iron trident that dripped corrosive fluid and was filled with the very malevolence of Orcus himself. Nithrekel raised his sword, shouted a challenge at the towering half-dragon and charged, his men heartened by their leader’s courage followed suit and the final battle for Sheveker’s fortress began in earnest. As the melee erupted around him, Nithrekel laid about with his sword shearing flesh and bone with each savage swing and soon the world became little more than an ever shifting blur of blood and steel. Finally as the bodies piled up around him Nithrekel found himself face to face with the gore spattered nightmare of Ubok Prog. The villainous half-dragon had slain many and wished to claim the life of the one who had dared challenge his master in his own domain. Nithrekel wasted no time on challenges or threats and launched a brutal cut at Ubok Prog’s unprotected neck that certainly would have removed the blackguard’s head had it landed. Nithrekel found his wicked blow turned aside by Ubok Prog’s trident and his blade trapped between the tines of the fiendish weapon. With a savage twist Ubok Prod tore the sword from Nithrekel’s grasp to send it clattering across the gore stained tiles, leaving the mephit unarmed.Nithrekel stumbled back casting about desperately for his sword while Ubok Prog seized his advantage and jabbed viciously at the vulnerable mephit. Nithrekel tried to spin away from the thrust but the blackguard’s aim was true and one of the tines of his trident punctured Nithrekel’s Mithral shirt and sank deep into his side. The pain was immediate and intense as the wound filled with corrosive fluid and the unholy energy of the evil trident flowed through the wounded mephit. Grinning maliciously, Ubok Prog ripped his trident from Nithrekel’s side and with a sweeping blow knocked the mephit’s feet out from under him dumping him flat on his back wounded and unarmed. The half-dragon quickly moved to stand above Nithrekel raising his trident to skewer his downed opponent. Nithrekel could do nothing but watch as the iron tines of the trident flashed down to slay him, but the blow never fell. From the corner of his eye Nithrekel saw Thrumog Jum Dukot, the hobgoblin captain of his heavy cavalry, charging towards Ubok Prog who was focused on skewering Nithrekel. Thrumog collided with the blackguard at a dead run knocking him back and deflecting the thrust that surely would have ended Nithrekel’s life. Nithrekel leapt to his feet to witness his savior, the brave Thrumog Jum Dukot, locked in fierce combat with Ubok Prog and fighting for his life. The hulking blackguard was a lightning blur of thrusts and parries and it was obvious that Thrumog was seriously outclassed. The hobgoblin captain was bleeding from numerous minor wounds and his guard was faltering, soon to leave him open for that final fatal strike. Knowing his captain had only a short time before Ubok Prog battered down his defenses, Nithrekel plucked a warhammer from a corpse at his feet and hurled the weapon with all his might at the half-dragon. Nithrekel’s cast was true and the heavy hammer struck the blackguard a sound blow on the side of his skull with a resounding crack. Ubok Prog went down heavily his trident flying from his grasp, to lay stunned and bleeding on his belly among the corpses of the slain. Thrumog rushed forward to finish the downed blackguard thinking him mortally wounded but as the over eager hobgoblin raised his sword to plunge it into the seemingly defenseless half-dragon’s back, Ubok Prog suddenly flipped over and coughed forth a gout of thick corrosive bile that splashed over Thrumog’s chest and head. The hobgoblin shrieked horribly clutching the dripping ruins of his face and fell to the ground writhing in uncontrollable agony.Nithrekel ran to aid his fallen captain but before he could reach him the mephit heard Ubok Prog muttering an incantation in a horrid guttural tongue and suddenly the world was shrouded in a blanket of utter blackness. Nithrekel stumbled forward blindly his senses numb and useless, he heard the screams of the dying and the sounds of combat nearby and then not more than a few paces ahead of him the sound of metal armor scraping on stone. Ubok Prog had obviously regained his feet and Nithrekel readied himself for the deathblow that would surely come unseen and silent in the impenetrable darkness. Nithrekel waited for what seemed an eternity in the inky blackness but miraculously he was left unmolested.  As the magical darkness faded and Nithrekel was once again able to see his surroundings he found himself standing victorious among the corpses of his enemies but of the blackguard Ubok Prog there was no sign.All of Sheveker’s troops lay dead, only their leader the half-dragon Ubok Prog had escaped in the melee. The casualties to Nithrekel’s forces were severe he had lost almost 400 men in his assault on Sheveker’s fortress including the brave Thrumog Jum Dukot, who had undoubtedly saved Nithrekel’s life. A deep feeling of shame and regret settled over Nithrekel that he could not have returned the favor and spared the courageous hobgoblin from the horrible death that had claimed him. But there was little Nithrekel could do to change the past and with a weary sigh he retrieved his sword and turned to face the huge iron bound doors that led to Sheveker and either victory or death.</blockquote>

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